Double Your Caring and Kindness with your Gift to AMEDICAusa.
140,000 Children in Guatemala Can’t Go to School in Guatemala due to Poverty. Every $2 you give allows us to reach one more child.
Its that season again, and we’re all absorbed in the question of what gifts to give. I invite you to consider a gift that lasts a lifetime…give a child in rural Guatemala a chance at an education.
Our program is designed to get elementary age students into school, and keep them there, by delivering the basic school supplies that they would not otherwise be able to afford. While this may seem a relatively low-tech program, it is actually a simple solution to a very large problem in Guatemala. At least 140,000 school age Guatemalan children are not enrolled in school. The principal reason: an inability of the families to afford the simple school supplies needed for their children. Most of these kids are in the rural and indigenous sections of the country where we are most active.
AMEDICAusa school supply mission in Champerico, Guatemala
AMEDICAusa volunteers, usually led led by Silvana Ayuso, our Vice President in Guatemala, deliver the supplies directly into the hands of the children. Based on the UNICEF “School in a Box” concept, we have modified it to suit the needs of Guatemala. Pencils, pens, notebooks, erasers…you get the idea. Even a small toy and a treat are included. Simple things, but a great boon to those who often make less than a dollar a day.
Rather than just send a box of supplies to a school, we have individualized the packets to ensure that the supplies actually reach the children for whom they were intended, and broken it up into amounts suitable for approximately 3-4 months. This helps insure that the items get used by the students, not sold or ruined in the often-challenging climate. We try and reach each school we supply three times during the school year.
We use our funds frugally. AMEDICAusa buys all of our supplies from wholesalers in Guatemala. This is not only vastly less expensive than in the U.S., but also saves us shipping costs (often more than the supplies themselves), and gives a little boost to the local economy.
Guatemalan firefighters delivering school supplies – AMEDICAusa
Besides the obvious educational benefits, this program also often serves as our gateway into the rural communities. It is the rare visit where we are not called upon to see, treat and/or transport a sick or injured child. This allows us to introduce our medical programs. Many of our volunteers are from the local fire departments with whom we work closely in our disaster aid and training programs. They aid us in delivering the supplies and help introduce us to the local population. It also the best introduction to Guatemala for our U.S. volunteers who are invited to participate in the school supply delivery missions.
We are in the midst of our annual fund-raising drive for next year’s programs. We are also soliciting partner agencies to help support the missions. If you, someone you know, or a group would be interested in helping, please feel free to contact me any time. Browse our website and let us know if you have any questions, and please…Give generously.
Thank you for your kind consideration,
Neale
Neale S. Brown
President, AMEDICAusa, Inc.